Norma Wilma Schumacher
Norma Wilma Schumacher of Urbana, Illinois, passed peacefully on to the next phase on April 22, 2019. She was age 93.
Norma Wilma Schallert was born July 5, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Laura and Joseph Martin Schallert.
She graduated from Beaumont High School and took night courses at Washington University in St. Louis while working. Among the companies she worked for in St. Louis were Woolworth, Famous-Barr, Hawkeye Insurance, General American Insurance and Navy Brand, as well as for the University of Missouri Medical Center in Columbia, Missouri.
The second half of her career was spent working in the Assessor’s Office for the City of St. Louis, for more than 20 years.
Despite being afflicted with polio as a child in the late 1920s, and cancer in 1993, she persisted, and prided herself as being a survivor her entire life. She had a great empathy for less fortunate souls and contributed to numerous charities.
Among her favorite hobbies were fishing, crocheting, reading, gardening, and watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball. She was a lifelong, highly-knowledgeable fan of the Cardinals, and a St. Louis girl through and through.
Norma was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Joe and her sister Laura.
She is survived by her son, James Alan (Jake) Schumacher of Champaign, Illinois, and daughter-in-law Mary Leandra Baker of Chicago. Both Jake and Mary are former Sitkans and were with Raven Radio from before sign-on in 1981 until 1994, she as a production director, he as music and operations director.
Also surviving are numerous beloved nephews and nieces, and dear friends, especially Carrolle Caro and Roger Cooper.
In lieu of flowers she would have preferred donations to her favorite charity, Doctors without Borders.
She will be buried in a private service at Lake Charles in St. Louis, next to her parents. Arrangements for a memorial service are pending.
